Oxford Covid-19 vaccine found 'safe' in early trials, triggers promising protective immune reaction to virus
Oxford University's coronavirus vaccine is reportedly safe to use and triggers an immune reaction, according to the findings of the first phases of the vaccine trial. The highly-anticipated clinical trial's results were revealed on Monday, July 20, and showed that nearly 100 percent of the people who received the vaccine produced an immune response to Covid-19.
The results of the trial showed that in small sub-group of 35 participants out of 477, between 33 and 35 of them still had a "neutralizing" response, suggesting that their body could destroy the virus, after a month. The neutralizing response means that there were strong signs in their blood that they could fight off the novel coronavirus if they got infected. According to the results published in Lancet, the immune responses remained strong for at least 56 days. However, as it has not been proven to work and the results have only shown promise, it won't be licensed yet. Another positive positive factor in the trial results was the vaccine's safety. Reports state that no one had any bad side effects from the vaccine, which appears to beit won't be licensed for human use yet stimulating the immune system as scientists had hoped. Some of the side effects experienced by the recipients of the vaccine were headaches, tiredness, and pain in their arm after they were given the shot. None of the side effects, however, were severe, according to scientists.
A researcher on the vaccine project, in a statement, said: "These early results hold promise," however, "there is still much work to be done," according to the Daily Mail.
The particular vaccine developed by Oxford is already being manufactured by AstraZeneca, based in Cambridge. Meanwhile, the UK government has ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine in advance. The results of the trial come shortly after Prime Minister Boris Johnson had attempted to temper expectations of a Covid-19 vaccine early morning, admitting that he was not confident that there would be a vaccine by the end of next year.
UK ministers, however, announced deals later for an additional 90 million doses of two types of experimental vaccines being formulated in Germany and France. Reports state that Britain is attempting to stock up coronavirus vaccines which are in development across the world
"I wish I could say that I was 100 percent confident we'll get a vaccine for Covid-19," Johnson, while speaking to Sky News on Monday, said. "Obviously I'm hopeful — I've got my fingers crossed — but to say I'm 100 percent confident that we'll get a vaccine this year, or indeed next year is, alas, just an exaggeration — we're not there yet."
"If you talk to the scientists they think the sheer weight of international effort is going to produce something. They're pretty confident that we'll get some sort of treatments some sort of vaccines that will really make a difference," he continued. "But can I tell you that I'm 100 percent confident? No. That's why we've got to continue with our current approach - maintaining the social distancing measures... we've got to continue to do all the sensible things; washing our hands. All those basic things. It may be that the vaccine is going to come riding over the hill like the cavalry but we just can't count on it right now."